Fluid flow systems

ABSTRACT

In a fluid flow system, such as for central heating, the pipework includes a valve which may be regarded as a socket to which an appliance may be connected at will so as to utilise the fluid in the system, the valve being automatically maintained in closed position but opened by connection means on the appliance when the appliance is connected to the system. Preferably, a plurality of valves are provided at appropriate locations so that the appliance can be connected at any selected location, and the valve may control both outlet and inlet fluid flows.

v Umted States Patent 11 1 1111 3,776,272 Arbon Dec. 4, 1973 [54] FLUID FLOW SYSTEMS 1,485,544 3 1924 Yeiser 137 3291 2,628,850 2/1953 Summerville 251/149.7 [75] Charles Arm", CheltePham, 3,176,711 4/1965 Borg 6! a]. 251 1497 x England 3,563,267 2 1971 Thompson 25l/l49.6 x [73] Assignee: Walker Crosweller & Company Limited, Cheltenham, England Primary ExaminerHenry T. Klinksiek [22] Filed Mar 3 1972 Attorney-Solon B. Kemon et al.

[211 App]. No.: 231,514

[57] ABSTRACT [30] Far-gig Application priority Data In a fluid flow system, such as for central heating, the Mar 17 1971 Great Briain 7 345! pipework includes a valve which may be regarded as a socket to which an appliance may be connected at will [52] U S Cl 137/596 251/149 so as to utilise the fluid in the system, the valve being [51] 19/00 ;:16k 1 5/1'8 automatically maintained in closed position but [58] Field 135/596 329 opened by connection means on. the appliance when "251/149 6 the appliance is connected to the system. Preferably, a

' plurality of valves are provided at appropriate loca- [56] References Cited tions so that the appliance can be connected at any selected location, and the valve may control both out- UNITED STATES PATENTS let and inlet fluid flows. 3,659,626 5/1972 Arbon l37/329.l

739,793 9/1903 Shourek.. 251 1496 x 5 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures 79 78 73 A 1 E""1 1 ---r' 1 1 1 l I l 1 1 1 1 1 12 f l- T 1 1 l PMENTED DEC 4 I975 SHEET 1 BF 4 FIG. 77

PATENTED E 4 W 5 F WH 96 "NEWEU DEC 4 I975 SHEET 4 UF 1 1 FLUID FLOW SYSTEMS This invention is concerned with improvements in or relating to fluid flow systems.

In particular, this invention is concemed with fluid flow systems with which one or more appliances are to be utilised. For instance, small bore central heating systerns in which there is fluid flow to and from a heating source and one or more heat transfer appliances, or a distribution system for one or more fluids to oneor more appliances for dispensing one or more of the fluids, possibly as admixtures, this latter system being of the type installed in hospitals for distributing gases such as oxygen or anaesthetics to suitable appliances.

In such fluid flow systemsit is conventional for the pipe-work to be installed in a permanent manner and usually the appliances are connected to the pipe-work at fixed positions that are determined by the provision of suitable pipe connections usually incorporating valve means whereby an appliance may be isolated from the flow of fluid. Accordingly, an appliance cannot be easily removed from its installed position, for instance for servicing or decorating the adjacent structure, and although an appliance may only be required spasmodically, it must be retained inthe installed position whilst inoperative.

The foregoing aspects give rise to expensive and un economic installations and use of appliances associated therewith, and an object of this invention is to provide a more versatile fluid flow system which overcomes the disadvantages aforementioned.

According to this invention we provide a fluid flow system wherein the installed pipework is provided with valve means for controlling the flow of fluid through an outlet or an inlet of the system, said valve means being maintained automatically in the closed position and being adapted to be opened by connection means on an appliance when it is connected thereto so that the fluid may flow into or out of the appliance.

According to this invention we also provide a fluid flow system as aforedefined in combination with at least one appliance connected to said valve means.

With this invented system, the valve means may be regarded as a socket to which an appliance may be connected at will so as to utilise the fluid in thesystem and a plurality of such valve means would be'provided at appropriate locations in the installation. Hence, portable appliances may be provided, and these can be used at any selected locations where the valve means are situated.

As will be appreciated, various forms of appliances may be utilised, and the valve means may controlthe fluid flow both from an outlet and to an inlet for conducting fluid back into the flow system, or from and to more than one outlet or inlet.

Additionally, the. applianceglmay include manually operable regulating valves by which the flow of fluid between the appliance and thevalve means may be controlled. This enables the appliance to be retained in situ, connected to the system, but isolated therefrom or regulated at will.

Conveniently, the valve means includes a valve body adapted for connection to the pipework, the valvebody having a passage and an open-ended chamber in communication therewith, a valve member in the chamber arranged to control the flow of fluid through the passageand the chamber; said connection means of the appliancehaving a bore adapted to communicate with the open end of the chamber when the appliance is connected to said valve means, and said valve member being operable by the connection means to pennit flow of fluid through the chamber and thus to or from the appliance.

In a preferred construction, the connection means of the appliance includes a hollow spigot for sliding insertion in a fluid-tight manner into the open end of the chamber of said valve means, and the valve member is adapted to be actuated by the spigot when it is inserted into the chamber.

It is preferred that the. valve member is biased into the closed position by spring means, although it is envisaged that where there is sufficient fluid pressure, the valve member could be closed by such pressure.

As aforementioned, there may be more than one out let, or more than one inlet in the system and thus the valve body may provide one or more passages each with a corresponding Chamber, and each in communication with either an outlet or an inlet of the system and the connection means of the appliance may have a corresponding number of bores for communication with each of the chambers in the mounting block.

Other aspects of this invention will be apparent from the exemplary embodiment now to be described with reference to the accompanying drawings depicting a small bore central heating application and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation showing a valve means and a radiator connected thereto;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a further plan view similar to FIG. 1 but with the radiator disconnected from the valve means;

FIG. 4 is front elevation of the valve means of FIG. 1 with the housing removed;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view on line 5' 5' of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of FIG. 4; and FIG. 7 is a schematic view of a central heating system.

With reference to FIGS. 1,2,3 and 7 of the drawings, the heated water is pumped from a central source through supply and discharge pipes 1,2 to valve means,3, and a panel radiator 4 having a conventional manual control valve 5 is detachably-connected to the valvemeans3.

As can be seen-best in FIG. 3, both the inlet 6and the bore and of which one end is secured by a nut 9 to the appropriate pipe in a fluid-tight manner so that the bores of the pipe and the spigot are axially aligned and in communication. The other endof each spigot 8 is formed with a diametric opening providing two extreme end portions 10 adapted to actuate a valve member as will be described later. An O-ring ll encircles eachspigot 8 and is seated in a peripheral groove situated near the extreme end portions 10. t

The valve means 3 isv provided with a housing comprising a base part 12 secured to a wall 13 or analogous support in known manner and a detachable cover part 14 having a pair of apertures 15 through which the pair of spigots 8 may extend. A strap 16 is detachably secured to the housing by two screws 17 engaging in threaded bores 18 in a mounting block 19 of the valve means extending within, and attached to the base part 12. The strap 16 is utilised to maintain the connection of the radiator 4 and the valve means and is adapted to extend around the body of the manual control valve 5 as is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

In this application the valve means 3 is arranged to control the flow of water to and from the radiator through the supply and discharge pipes 1,2 therefore the mounting block 19 has two similar valve arrangements associated therewith. Each valve arrangement controls either the supply or discharge of water, and one such arrangement will now be described with reference also to FIGS. 4,5, and 6.

A valve body 20 is secured to the mounting block 19 by a screw 21 extending from the rear face of the mounting block 19 into a blind tapped bore formed in an internal boss 22, and is located against relative turning by a dowel pin 23. The valve body 20 is formed with a cylindrical chamber 24, and a transverse passageway 25 opening into the chamber 24.

A restrictor valve 26 is mounted in a lateral extension of the valve body so as to extend into the passageway 25 and the flow rate through the valve 26 may be adjusted by rotating a slotted head 27 which is accessible from the outside of the valve body 20. The lateral extension of the valve body is connected to the appropriate pipe 1 or 2, by a conventional connector 28 so that the passageway 25 is in communication with the pipe bore.

A seating member 29 is received within the open end of the chamber 24 and provides an extension to the chamber in which a spigot 8 is adapted to be inserted in a sliding water-tight manner. The inner transverse face 30 of the member 29 constitutes an annular seating for a valve member 31 mounted in the chamber for axial movement against the loading of a spring 32 located on the boss 22 and engaging with the base of the valve member. The valve is depicted in the closedposition in FIG. 5, wherein the spring 32 biases the valve member 31 towards the seating 30 so that a sealing washer 33 on the valve member 31 engages therewith. Accordingly, although the passageway 25 is open to the chamber 24, this is closed by the valve and any pressure exerted by the water only tends to assist the spring bias to retain the valve in the closed position.

As will now be appreciated, when'a spigot 8 is inserted into the open end of the chamber 24, the head of the valve is engaged by the extreme end portions of the spigot 8 and the valve is axially displaced against the spring bias as the spigot 8 is pushed fully home. Hence, the valve member 31 is displaced so that the passageway 25 is opened to provide direct communication with the open end of the chamber and water can flow in the appropriate sense into or out of the chamber 24, thus the radiator 4 is rendered operative and may be controlled by the manual control valve 5.

The relative axial lengths of a spigot 8, the seating member 29 and the displaceable distance of the valve member 31 are selected so that water-tight sealing of the spigot O-ring 11 within the seating member 29 is achieved before the valve member 31 is opened and there is no spillage of water from the valve means.

As is depicted in the drawings of this embodiment two such valve arrangements are utilised and the pair of valve bodies are secured to the mounting block so as to extend in spaced, parallel relationship which facilitates their connection to a conventional type of radiator manual control valve duly modified to include the spigots. However, the spacing between the valve bodies may be varied by providing alternative tapped holes in the mounting block.

As will also be appreciated, the arrangement and dispostion of the passageway and chamber of each valve body may be different to that depicted, in fact itis envisaged that this invention is applicable to a system in which the supply and discharge pipes are co-axial.

It is envisaged that in a central heating system, portable radiators possibly with power convection by a fan, may be connected at will to any of a number of valve means disposed at various positions with the pipe-work being installed in the manner of a ring main.

Further modifications to the valve means may be made in accordance with the particular fluid and/or system. In particular in a dispensing system where an appliance is adapted to be connected to the valve means, the number of valve members will be selected appropriate to the various pressure fluids being distributed, and/or a mixing chamber may be incorporated in the valve means.

Other applications, modifications and the advantages of this invention will be apparent to those familiar with this field.

I claim:

1. In a central heating system comprising a pipework installation including fluid supply and fluid return pipes connected to a heat-exchange appliance the improvement of valve means connected to said pipework and connection means on said appliance detachably connecting said appliance in said system, said valve means comprising a valve body having a first passageway communicating with said supply pipe and a second passageway communicating with said return pipe, first and second open-ended chambers formed in said body and respectively communicating with said first and second passageways, first and second reciprocable valve members respectively in said first and second chambers for controlling the flow of fluid therethrough, and means biassing said first and second valve members towards a position closing their respective communications between said first and second passageways and said first and second chambers, and said connection means on said appliance comprising first and second spigots respectively slidably and sealingly received within respective first and second chambers and engaging and holding said first and second valve members in an open position, first and second bores respectively in said first and second spigots and in communication with said first and second passageways to permit the supply and discharge of fluid to said appliance, and means for detachably securing the connection means to said valve means whereby on detachment of said appliance and withdrawal of said first and second spigots said first and second valve members automatically close to terminate the connection of said appliance in said system.

2. The improvement according .to claim 1 wherein said valve means further comprises a mounting block carrying said valve body and a housing having detachable cover through which said first and second spigots extend, and said housing having said detachable securing means connected thereto.

3. The improvement according to claim 2 wherein said appliance includes a manual control valve for controlling the flow of fluid between said valve means and said appliance.

4. The improvement according to claim 3 wherein said first and second spigots and said first and second chambers extend in side-by-side and parallel relationspaced relatively apart in the pipework installation ship.

5. in a central heating system according to claim 1 the provision of a plurality of said valve means connected to said fluid supply and return pipes at positions 5 whereby said appliance may be connected to any one of said valve means. 

1. In a central heating system comprising a pipework installation including fluid supply and fluid return pipes connected to a heat-exchange appliance the improvement of valve means connected to said pipework and connection means on said appliance detachably connecting said appliance in said system, said valve means comprising a valve body having a first passageway communicating with said supply pipe and a second passageway communicating with said return pipe, first and second open-ended chambers formed in said body and respectively communicating with said first and second passageways, first and second reciprocable valve members respectively in said first and second chambers for controlling the flow of fluid therethrough, and means biassing said first and second valve members towards a position closing their respective communications between said first and second passageways and said first and second chambers, and said connection means on said appliance comprising first and second spigots respectively slidably and sealingly received within respective first and second chambers and engaging and holding said first and second valve members in an open position, first and second bores respectively in said first and second spigots and in communication with said first and second passageways to permit the supply and discharge of fluid to said appliance, and means for detachably securing the connection means to said valve means whereby on detachment of said appliance and withdrawal of said first and second spigots said first and second valve members automatically close to terminate the connection of said appliance in said system.
 2. The improvement according to claim 1 wherein said valve means further comprises a mounting block carrying said valve body and a housing having detachable cover through which said first and second spigots extend, and said housing having said detachable securing means connected thereto.
 3. The improvement according to claim 2 wherein said appliance includes a manual control valve for controlling the flow of fluid between said valve means and said appliance.
 4. The improvement according to claim 3 wherein said first and second spigots and said first and second chambers extend in side-by-side and parallel relationship.
 5. In a central heating system according to claim 1 the provision of a plurality of said valve means connected to said fluid supply and return pipes at positions spaced relatively apart in the pipework installation whereby said appliance may be connected to any one of said valve means. 